Always And Forever You
by Unruly
Summary: **SPOILERRZ! DONT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL 3 BOOKS!** About 20 years ago, the Capitol won the war. Even though Felix Acosta hasn't been picked for the Hunger Games  though he has the highest chance , his girlfriend Claire does. What will he do?


I stared into her deep green eyes. I was happily drowning in the warm emerald ocean in them. The moon cast a dim white glow to her blonde hair. This is how we spent almost every night since her mother's death. She needed me more than ever. I was glad to help.

I put my hand on her cheek. She let out a sigh, closed her eyes, and leaned into my hand. I smile is playing on her lips now, and I'm glad it's coming back.

I leaned down and kissed her full lips, feeling the absolute warmth. Death could come my way, and I'd die happy. Just then, the grandfather clock in her living room tolled a quarter to twelve. I sighed; Mother wanted me home at midnight. I began to pull myself off her, unhappy that our time was so short.

"No. Please, don't leave me." She begged, clutching on my shirt.

"Claire…" I started. "I have to go."

"I can't stand another nightmare. Please stay. Wait until I fall asleep."

I smiled to reassure her. "How can I refuse?" I rolled on my back next to her on my bed. When her head was on my chest, I put my arm and a quilt around her. She sighed in content.

It was silent for a few moments, and then she said, "Felix, if a girl came now and she was everything you wanted her to be, what would you do?"

"Nothing," I answered. "She's already here."

"But—"

"Always and forever you."

She didn't answer, but I felt her relax. A few minutes later, she was snoring softly and quietly. I waited a few more minutes, and then I slipped from under her. I readjusted the quilt and tip toed quietly to her bedroom window, and sprang out, landing on the balls of my feet with a quiet _thud _on the concrete floor of the Town Square.

As I walked home in the chilly night, I thought about the ordeal Claire was going through. Her mom died a week ago, because she refused to follow the rule of a Peacekeeper. Claire's family was left in the dark; they didn't even get to know what the order was. They were given her mother's stiff, pale body, and "Failure to follow an officer's order" as an excuse. The event hit her family hard; Claire's mom was the one who brought in the most money daily. She was the town doctor. Her father worked out in the ocean fishing, but fishing season is bad at this time of the year, with winter so near. Claire was then picked to run the business, but she didn't know as much as her mother did. Every day she would have to read the books on how to mix this and that up into a good quality medicine. The family was forced to close down the apothecary until Claire was ready.

Ever since, I've been hunting extra hard to not only feed my family of four, but also Claire's family of three. Every day I would be at her door, giving her skinned rabbits and squirrels, plucked fowl, scaled fish, milk, and sometimes warm fish bread topped with hearty seasonings and cheese that my mother would make occasionally. It was Claire's favorite. The only thing that kept me pushing over my limits was the result of what my help would do. Claire's grateful eyes. The radiance of her little sister as she bounced and played around the yard. Her father, looking at me like I was his own.

As I walked pass an old wooden bench, it triggered a memory…

I was eight. Claire was seven, almost eight. My father had just started teaching me to hunt. We would sneak out of the district through several holes in the fence. Deep in the woods, he would teach me how to use bows and arrows and throwing knives. I even got to use a spear, though that didn't stick to my interest for very long. The second day of my training, I took down my first bird. It was small, but so was I. He taught me how to pluck it, and we brought it home for dinner, along with his kills. I was so excited that I took my training bow with me everywhere. One day after school, I was practicing shooting my arrows at a rock I had placed on a fence. The tips of the arrows where dull, so no one could get hurt. When I hit the rock, it toppled over and fell right on that very same bench. Claire was there, reading a book. I remember that I didn't even realize she was there until the rock fell.

I shyly came over to retrieve my rock. "Sorry," I said as I got closer.

"It didn't hit me. Hey—aren't you Felix?" She asked suddenly.

I blushed. "Yeah. And you're Claire."

"We have a class together. You're so smart. What are you doing now?"

"Practicing." I held up my bow. "I'm going to be a hunter one day."

Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "In the woods?"

"Yes," I whispered back. "In the woods."

"Cool! What's it like? I only see the trees from my yard…"

And so we talked for hours. I told her about the smell of the ocean and pine mixed together while we hunted. I told her how when you hunt, you have to be very quiet so you don't disturb the prey. I told her about the fence holes that if you could fit, you could avoid getting shocked. I told her about a bird I didn't know about, but how it was full of grease and when seasoned the right way, delicious. She told me about the books she liked to read; how they were always romance novels. She told me that one day, she'll be a writer and/or painter. She showed me a picture of a turtle she found at the beach. I remembered vaguely that it looked like someone older had made it.

We were interrupted by a snarky laugh. We looked up to see Jeb, a big, stocky, eleven year old boy with red hair and brown eyes. His face was always in a sneer, and he had the reputation of harassing kids my age. Puberty was just reaching him; he saw girls as girls and not just cootie ridden bodies.

"Hey, Claire!" He shouted, even though he was right in front of us.

"Leave me alone, Jeb." Claire muttered.

"Kiss me!" He grabbed Claire roughly by the collar and yanked her to him, planting a kiss on her mouth. Then he let her go, making her fall onto the hard floor.

"Hey!" She yelled, already crying.

"Don't do that!" I pushed him away, and when he pushed me back, laughing about my height, I swung my fist and punched him in the eye.

He fell on his back too, stunned by my actions. He was already forming a black eye. I too, was stunned. I stared at my hands, wondering where the power could come from. It took a moment to notice Claire wasn't crying anymore. She was staring at me just like Jeb.

"You…you hit me!" Jeb wailed. He got up and ran off.

Claire got up carefully. "How did you do that?" She asked.

"I dunno…I—"

And then she pecked me on the lips, giggled, and hurried off to where she lived. And that's how we became friends. We would hang out everyday after school. I would bring her my own kills, and in return, her family gave us medicines. When we hit fourteen, we became a couple.

I barged through the front door. Father was there, sitting in his armchair by the fire, waiting for me.

"Good morning, sir." I said.

"Good morning, indeed." He replied. "More nightmares?"

"Yes, sir. I had to stay. Where's Mother?"

"Asleep. Don't worry, son. I told her you were with Claire."

"Thank you. Good night to you, sir." I ducked my head and went upstairs to change for bed.

I was sleeping before my head hit the pillow.


End file.
